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LONDON, April 10: Bolton Wanderers squandered a chance to leap into a Champions League position when they were held 1-1 at home by Everton while fourth-placed Arsenal drew 0-0 at Newcastle United in the Premier League on Monday.
Arsenal stayed two points ahead of Bolton on 56 while leaders Manchester United (78), second-placed Chelsea (75) and Liverpool (60) prepared for midweek Champions League quarter-final, second leg matches.
Striker Kevin Davies put Bolton ahead in the 18th minute when he beat the offside trap to volley home Ivan Campo's free kick but James Vaughan equalised for Everton against the run of play in the 33rd.
At St James' Park, Arsenal ended a run of three consecutive defeats but they have only scored once in four games.
Newcastle defender Nolberto Solano twice saved on the line from Gilberto Silva in a goalmouth scramble near the end of a second half that began with James Milner hitting the Arsenal bar with a swerving cross.
Manchester City passed their relegation worries to Fulham after a surprise 3-1 win at Craven Cottage, a third away victory in succession helping them climb to 12th place on 40 points.
Fulham, on 35, are four points above the drop zone.
Wigan Athletic's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa left them three points above the relegation places.
The visitors played with 10 men for 57 minutes after Ecuador's Luis Antonio Valencia was sent off for a two-footed lunge at Villa's Dutch defender Wilfred Bouma.
Charlton Athletic, in 17th spot on 32 points, moved a point above the relegation zone after a 0-0 draw at home to Reading.
Bottom club Watford romped to their biggest league win of the season, 4-2 at home to Portsmouth, but it has almost certainly come too late to avoid the drop. They are nine points from safety with five games left.
Results:
Played on Monday:
Aston Villa 1 Wigan Athletic 1
Bolton Wanderers 1 Everton 1
Charlton Athletic 0 Reading 0
Fulham 1 Manchester City 3
Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 0
Watford 4 Portsmouth 2.
—Reuters
Standings
(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Manchester United 32 25 3 4 75 23 78
Chelsea 32 23 6 3 56 19 75
Liverpool 32 18 6 8 50 22 60
Arsenal 32 16 8 8 52 29 56
Bolton Wanderers 33 16 6 11 40 40 54
Everton 33 13 12 8 44 29 51
Tottenham Hotspur 32 14 6 12 44 45 48
Portsmouth 33 12 10 11 41 37 46
Reading 33 13 6 14 44 41 45
Newcastle United 33 11 8 14 36 41 41
Blackburn Rovers 32 12 4 16 38 47 40
Manchester City 32 11 7 14 26 35 40
Middlesbrough 32 10 9 13 36 39 39
Aston Villa 33 8 15 10 33 38 39
Fulham 33 7 14 12 34 52 35
Wigan Athletic 33 9 7 17 32 49 34
Charlton Athletic 33 8 8 17 29 49 32
Sheffield United 32 8 7 17 26 47 31
West Ham United 32 8 5 19 26 51 29
Watford 33 4 11 18 24 53 23
